BC to add coding to K-12 curriculum

Students across British Columbia will soon be learning about compiling, debugging and emulating along with reading, writing and arithmetic.

In a new initiative introduced January 18 at the #BCTECH Summit in Vancouver, Premier Christy Clark announced that the students from kindergarten to grade 12 will benefit from having computer coding added to their school curriculum.

“We all want a diverse, knowledge-based economy that supports innovation. That’s why government is working with colleges, universities, institutes and the tech industry to adjust training and education to meet current and future demand for talent – as one-quarter of government funding for the post-education sector is earmarked for jobs in demand,” said a statement Premier Clark.

The curriculum changes, part of the province’s broader #BCTECH Strategy, will include targeted programs including coding academies, greater access to work experience electives for high school students and dual credit partnerships between secondary and post-secondary institutions.

The move by the BC government move to bring code learning into the classroom follows a similar move by the Nova Scotia government in 2015.

Read the province’s official announcement here.